Sam Calagione & David Lemieux on the new, official Grateful Dead beer

Beer and the Grateful Dead—two of my favorite things, and today’s episode is a dream. I’m joined by Sam Calagione, founder of Dogfish Head Craft Brewing , and David Lemieux, longtime Grateful Dead Archivist & Historian, to talk about their epic new collab: Dogfish Head Grateful Dead Juicy Pale Ale.

With 2025 marking the Grateful Dead’s 60th anniversary, Dogfish Head is celebrating with a nationwide beer release—complete with a big Stealie on the package. But they didn’t stop there. Sam and David also teamed up with Sam’s Deadhead son, Sammy, to curate a vinyl collection of Grateful Dead tunes—the perfect soundtrack for drinking beer on a summer porch.

In this conversation, we dive deep into:
🍺 The origins of Dogfish Head’s Dead-inspired brews
🎵 How David curates archival Dead releases (like Dave’s Picks)
📀 The process behind the new vinyl collab & what’s on it
🤘 Unreleased Dead recordings & the “white whale” of the Dead archive
💀 Both Dave and Sam's orgin stories as longtime Deadheads

Sam is a craft beer legend—he built Dogfish Head into a powerhouse that was acquired by Boston Beer Company for $300 million in 2019. And David? He's been curating Dave’s Picks and overseeing Dead archival releases for years and the host of Today In Grateful Dead History on the SiriusXM Grateful Dead Channel. The guy is a walking Grateful Dead encyclopedia.

If you love beer, the Dead, and great stories, this one’s for you. Hit that subscribe button and let’s get into it. 🍻⚡

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